JIMMY SMOTHERS: Wright was a great athlete, better person

Monday

Sep 19, 2011 at 10:38 PM

It was back in the decade of the 1960s, 1966 to be exact.

By JIMMY SMOTHERSTimes Sports Editor Emeritus

It was back in the decade of the 1960s, 1966 to be exact.Our town, same as other cities throughout the South, had experienced rioting and marching through the streets. There was misunderstanding and bitterness between black and white citizens of the various communities. The federal courts had mandated integration in the school systems and in many places federal marshals and the National Guard were brought in to see that it was a peaceful process.Although everything didn’t always go smoothly, a necessity of outside force wasn’t needed in Gadsden primarily because of this city’s love for sports, its high schools’ football and basketball teams and their bands.The first year Carver High kept its doors open and continued to field athletic teams, although some of the players elected to enroll at either Emma Sansom or Gadsden High.Some of the top black athletes of that era included Danny Treadwell, who left Carver for Butler High in Huntsville, Danny Kimble, who went to Emma Sansom, and Ricky Brown, who enrolled at Gadsden High, as did Jess Wright Jr.Brown was a highly recruited basketball player, who went on to Alabama before playing for the Harlem Globetrotters. But it was Wright who was the ice breaker, playing both football and basketball for the Tigers.“He was the first black to play for a previously all-white team in Gadsden,” ex-Tiger star Darryl Dunn recalled recently. “He was my hero. He was the Jackie Robinson in the black community.”Clark Boler, who was coaching at Gadsden High at the time, remembers that Gadsden needed a guy like Wright at that time. “His winning ways and kind manner made everyone like and respect him. This paved the way for mutual respect between the students, players, coaches and many of his fans and friends,” Boler recalled. “Jess was a fierce competitor on the field, but always a pleasant and respectful young man.”Boler played a big role in the transition, and he and Wright kept in touch over the years.Wright passed away last week, bringing a remarkable legacy to an end. Coach Boler was among the hundreds who turned out to pay their final respects.Wright will be remembered for the life he lived and for what he gave back to his community. He had served his country in the military and later was an officer in the American Legion. He graduated from college, coached and taught school for a while, helped broadcast high school football games on local radio, officiated high school sports and became involved in church and community programs, law enforcement and politics.I could go on and on, but that would not necessarily reflect the man and what his goals were in life. Jess wasn’t interested in fanfare, he never cared much for public attention, and when it came his way, he was humble, yet appreciative.Wright was the pacesetter in our community for other black athletes and he was among the first blacks to play football at Jacksonville State. His teammates there referred to him as “the old man” because he had served four years in the military and was in his mid-20s when he entered college.A lot of stories could have been written about what he went through during that transition of integration, but he never talked much talked about it.“He was just kind of funny that way,” recalled Dunn. “He was just happy to play football and basketball, happy to be a part of the team.”Dunn said Wright was about four years older than he. “Jess was a senior when I was a ninth grader, so we were never really buddies or ran around together. But I always looked up to him. As I said, he was always the Jackie Robinson of Gadsden to us kids.”Dunn remembered one incident that reflects Wright’s ability to weather what may have been a stormy situation.“We had gone on the road to play a football game,” Dunn said. “Some of the people there had painted a black Tiger on a flag. They waved it at us, then someone set it on fire.”Gadsden High’s nickname was the Tigers, its colors black and orange.“Jess just stood there and watched,” Dunn said. “I don’t recalled what exactly happened, but I do remember Jess saying that just fired him up, that it made him play harder. I don’t recall him displaying any emotion, or anything. That was just the way it was back then and we all knew the situation. So we never let it bother us.”Neither coach Boler nor his wife, Tran, remembers anything like that happening. But Boler said sometimes the opponents’ treatment of Wright was inappropriate.“At such times it evoked the wrath of our fans and some of them even encouraged Jess to ‘not take it.’ But I never saw him retaliate in any manner. He would just smile and say, ‘That’s gonna be on them. They will have to answer for their actions. I don’t play ball that way.’ He always showed his class in every situation he faced,” his coach said.The late Gerald Stephens was head coach at Gadsden at the time. He didn’t like to work with reporters, and didn’t want reporters talking to his players. So I didn’t write as much about the football team, or about Wright being the first black player, as I wanted. The team had a good season, going 8-2.Wright was an outstanding running back and the student body rallied behind him. One of the yells I remember went something like this: “He ain’t black, he ain’t white, he’s Jess Wright!”And he was. He was as much a Gadsden High Tiger as were his teammates.Some of those were Mike Douglas, Bill Abston, Butch Tumlin, David Clay, Mark Webb, Charlie Martin, Bob Short, John Croyle, Mike Davidson, Steve Beene, Terry Moon, Mike Whitt and Bruce Hill. Boler said, “To say that Wright made a difference in this world by setting an example of how we all should get along is a fitting tribute to him, and a life well lived.”What more can I add?

Times Sports Editor Emeritus Jimmy Smothers can be reached at jmmys1@aol.com.

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